In an address to the nation on Sunday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron refused to take any accountability for the national riots that erupted on Saturday, as he sought to shift the blame onto the far-left and even external forces like the Iran conflict while failing to acknowledge the role mass migration played in creating a groundswell of support for the unrest.
Chaos broke out on the streets of Paris again on Sunday as the multicultural youth revolts saw further looting and arson, and a specialist police task force was deployed to the French capital to quell the unrest.
Dozens of rioters have been arrested following the outbreak of a "guerrilla war" outside the Duomo cathedral in central Milan as unrest from France appears to be boiling over into fellow European nations.
After many French storefronts were ransacked by rioters on Saturday, Business owners are expressing their fury and disappointment on social media.
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It's a dangerous time to own a brick-and-mortar storefront in France.
Violence erupted across the country on Saturday, as black-clad rioters ransacked stores.
Around 1,500 storefronts were targeted, one corporate heavyweight said.
Business owners in France are speaking out after cost-of-living protests turned into widespread rioting and looting across the country over the weekend.
Alexandre Bompard, the CEO of Carrefour, one of France's largest supermarket chains, said that about 1,500 businesses were targeted in the unrest.
Bompard and several other corporate heavyweights condemned the rioting and called on French authorities to restore order.
Photos and video from Paris and other French cities showed black-clad rioters smashing storefronts and leaving laden with armfuls of pilfered goods.
"We cannot allow violence to destroy what generations have put so much energy into building," Thierry Guibert, the CEO of Lacoste, said on X.
Here's what business owners are saying.
Thierry Guibert, CEO of Lacoste and Aigle.
Thierry Guibert tktk
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Guibert, who heads the luxury French clothing brand Lacoste and the outdoor clothing brand Aigle, issued a forceful statement on social media. He said the looting is antithetical to the entrepreneurial spirit.
"When our Lacoste and Aigle stores are looted, like so many other businesses across France, it is not only shop windows that are being smashed," he said in French. "It is jobs, years of work, know-how, and the commitment of thousands of women and men that are being put at risk."
Guibert said his concerns were shared by other entrepreneurs and smaller shop owners across France. He portrayed the riots as a degradation of French industry.
Lacoste operates about 150 storefronts across France.
Fabien Devide, CEO of Team Vitality
Fabien Devide tktk
credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images
The head of one of France's biggest professional esports organizations said that a part of him "went up in smoke" after his gaming café and club was looted on Saturday.
"The right to demonstrate is a fundamental freedom that I will defend all my life," Devide said on social media. "But looting and destruction should never have a place in these fights."
The esports organization operates a 4,300-square-foot gaming center, merchandise store, and café in central Paris. Vitality's X account posted on Saturday that "the premises of our club were looted."
"Fortunately, none of our staff members nor any fans were injured," Vitality said. "On the other hand, our display windows were destroyed, and our trophies and computer equipment were stolen."
Alexandre Bompard, CEO of Carrefour
Alexandre Bompard tktk
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Bompard, the CEO of the French supermarket and retail chain Carrefour, said that 50 of its stores were targeted by rioters on Saturday.
"Nothing can justify such violence," Bompard said on X in French. "Those who attack the work tools of courageous entrepreneurs and their teams in this way must face an uncompromising response."
"The Republic must protect its shopkeepers!" he added.
He attached four photos to his X post showing the ruined aisles of one Carrefour store. In the pictures, items litter the ground, and the shelves are empty.
Thierry Cotillard, chairman of Les Mousquetaires
Thierry Cotillard tktk
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Thierry Cotillard, chairman of Les Mousquetaires, a French retail group that owns the Intermarché supermarket brand, called the looting "unacceptable" in a LinkedIn post.
"We cannot trivialize these scenes," he said. "We cannot accept that violence becomes a response, that destruction becomes a mode of expression and that those who work honestly become the collateral victims of the anger of others."
Cotillard said at least two of his franchises in Paris and Rennes were "ransacked by thugs" during the riots on Saturday. He said his thoughts were with "all the shopkeepers who are paying the price."
"To our members, to our teams who are victims of this damage: you are not alone," he said. "We are at your side."
Dominique Schelcher, CEO of Coopérative U
Dominique Schelcher, CEO of the Coopérative U.
Daniel Perron / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images
Schelcher, CEO of supermarket and hypermarket retail collective Coopérative U, said some of the group's stores had been looted or attacked in several city centers, including Paris.
The collective comprises some 1,900 grocery stores and supermarkets owned by independent business owners.
"In the face of the shock, the solidarity of our network will be total," Schelcher wrote in a LinkedIn post on Sunday.
Schelcher later made a separate post calling on French leaders and politicians to "pursue calm, mutual respect, and the urgent development of a collective vision."
"There must not be another October 17," he added.
Catherine Spindler and Guillaume Motte, chief execs at Sephora
Catherine Spindler, president of Sephora Europe and the Middle East.
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Catherine Spindler, president of Sephora's business in Europe and the Middle East, said several of the beauty retailer's stores had been "ransacked."
"Even more serious, women and men in our teams have been confronted with situations of violence, fear, and great tension," she wrote in a LinkedIn post.
Sephora closed all its stores on Saturday at 5 p.m. and kept most of them shuttered on Sunday, Spindler wrote.
"Anger can be expressed. Convictions can be opposed. But nothing should justify women and men becoming the victims of this violence," she added.
Guillaume Motte, global CEO of Sephora, chimed in with support for Spindler on LinkedIn.
"We stand together!" he wrote.
Nicolas Houzé, executive chairman of Galeries Lafayette
Nicolas Houzé speaks onstage during a panel in England.
Kate Green/Getty Images for Business of Fashion
Nicolas Houzé, executive chairman of Galeries Lafayette, mourned France's global reputation in a post on LinkedIn, saying the riots produced "scenes of unprecedented violence throughout France."
"No demand can legitimize violence in France," wrote Houzé on LinkedIn, saying that almost all of his firm's points of sale had been affected by the attacks.
Galeries Lafayette, an upscale department store chain, runs about 50 outlets in France.
"Beyond the destruction and major economic losses for all those involved in trade, it is also the image of our country, its attractiveness, and its ability to welcome its visitors in the best conditions that are deeply affected," he added.
Alexandre Prot and Steve Anavi, cofounders of Qonto
Alexandre Prot, co-founder of Quonto, speaks at a conference.
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Fintech firm Qonto's founders, Steve Anavi and Alexandre Prot, said a fire had been started at their company's offices in Paris.
Anavi wrote on LinkedIn that the office fire was intentional, calling it an "arson attack."
"Violence and vandalism have no place in our society. Nothing can justify such acts," he added.
In a separate post, Prot said no one was injured in the fire.
"We'll repair the damage as soon as possible. In the meantime, Qonto's operations continue as normal," he wrote.
The company offers payment, bookkeeping, and other business management software, primarily targeting small- to medium-sized enterprises and startups.
Alain Di Crescenzo, President of CCI France
Alain Di Crescenzo, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in France.
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Alain Di Crescenzo, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in France, called for affected merchants to receive support amid the "inexcusable" violence.
"This violence is UNACCEPTABLE," Di Crescenzo wrote on LinkedIn.
"Breaking up a business is breaking up a neighborhood. It is to scare away customers, to discourage those who wanted to set up, to damage for a long time what years have built," he added.
Di Crescenzo said his organization, which represents roughly 2 million private businesses in France, is mapping the damage across affected cities and is creating "support units" to help its members.
A wine store in Paris was emptied of all its products during riots on Saturday.
Nathan Rennolds/Business Insider
Paris erupted as protests turned to riots and masked looters ransacked stores on Saturday.
Small business owners took stock of what they'd lost on Sunday.
"When I got back, they'd taken everything," one store owner told Business Insider.
"When I got back, they'd taken everything."
That's what one shopkeeper in Paris told me as she cleared debris from her store after major cost-of-living protests turned violent across parts of France.
Chaotic scenes unfolded on Saturday as rioters clashed with police and set vehicles and trash bins alight before masked marchers began to ransack businesses, including in the trendy Marais shopping district.
After hundreds of arrests and a tense, momentary calm on Sunday morning, more violence broke out Sunday evening as black-clad rioters dragged debris into streets and set it aflame.
Employees at a boutique fashion brand working in the area as the riots unfolded told me the situation felt "dystopian," and that at one point tear gas began seeping into the store. That apparently was not enough to put some shoppers off, however, as some continued to browse, they said.
They added that there was a heavy police presence on the street throughout Saturday, and that although they had hired extra security, they eventually decided to close early as the violence intensified.
Cycling through the city on Sunday, I followed what felt like a path of destruction that steadily ramped up as I neared the Place de République, where the city's 3rd, 10th, and 11th arrondissements meet — the scene of some of Saturday's most serious violence.
I stopped at several stores along the way to photograph the damage and speak with shop workers about their experiences.
A looted storefront in Paris.
Courtesy of Lucie Bardinet
A store owner at a gold-buying shop whose front window had been smashed told me she was forced to close up early on Saturday.
"I got a call. It was my neighbor, who was working next door at the restaurant. He'd made a video showing a group of young people," she said, adding that they forced the door open and "smashed everything up."
"They stole things," she said. "When I got back, they'd taken everything."
Later, I stopped outside a ransacked Nicolas wine store, one of the country's most prominent wine retail brands. The storefront was agape, the entrance and both display windows smashed, revealing shelves picked clean. Empty Champagne boxes and glass littered the floor.
The interior of a Nicolas wine store was picked clean by looters in Paris on Saturday.
Nathan Rennolds/Business Insider
Among the other businesses targeted by looters and damaged in the violence across Paris on Saturday were major supermarket chains, tech stores, bars, and vape shops.
Alexandre Bompard, the CEO of the Carrefour Group, one of France's biggest supermarket chains, said the cost of repairs to damaged stores would run well over $11 million. He said the destruction would lead to "considerable human and economic consequences," as franchise partners would be forced to reduce the hours of dozens of employees.
On the other side of Paris, the situation was calmer on Saturday. Outside my apartment in Montmartre, for example, life ticked along as usual, terraces full of weekend revelers and a Saturday buzz in the air.
A bartender at a popular Irish pub along the boulevard — a few doors down from the Moulin Rouge — said it had been a particularly busy evening and that she had seen no trouble, adding that people were on the whole "very polite."
By Sunday morning, however, many other Parisians were greeted by smashed storefronts and ATMs, broken glass, litter-filled streets, and burned-out cars as they emerged into a chilly, blue-skied morning.
And there were signs the city had begun to recover. Workers were already making repairs to an employment agency that had been broken into, and volunteers swept the streets.
As Paris tries to get back on its feet, Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said that local businesses would receive government help. He said he had requested the creation of an "emergency task force to support shopkeepers" with insurance and administrative procedures.
"You bring Paris to life every day. Today, it's Paris's turn to stand by your side," he said.
The city hall in Limoges on Saturday night. The violence in the city, better known for its porcelain than its politics, was among the most surprising episodes of France’s widespread unrest.
Immigration agents descended upon Oscar Belgal, a Dominican immigrant, along a strip of small stores in New York as people made their way home from work or accompanied their children after school.
Alexandre Bompard, the CEO of supermarket chain Carrefour, condemned rioters in France on Sunday.
Bloomberg/Getty Images
Alexandre Bompard condemned the riots in France on Sunday.
The Carrefour CEO said that rioters targeted about 50 of his stores.
Bompard said that the cost of repairs will exceed $11 million.
The CEO of one of France's largest supermarket chains, and one of the world's largest retailers, said that 50 of its stores were targeted by rioters on Saturday.
Alexandre Bompard, who leads Carrefour, France's version of Walmart, took to X on Sunday to condemn the riots and commend his employees as France reels from widespread civil unrest and looting.
"Nothing can justify such violence," Bompard said on X in French. "Those who attack the work tools of courageous entrepreneurs and their teams in this way must face an uncompromising response."
"The Republic must protect its shopkeepers!" he added.
Riots swept across France on Saturday after initially peaceful demonstrations against the high cost of living and deteriorating school conditions turned violent. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on X that 600 police officers were injured in the fracas and more than 2,000 people were arrested.
Photos and videos from Paris and other French cities show massive demonstrations, burning cars, and wrecked storefronts.
Rioters set cars on fire at the Canal Saint Martin during severe unrest in Paris on October 17.
Remon Haazen/Getty Images
In his X post, Bompard called the violence "unacceptable." He said that, in addition to Carrefour's stores, about 1,500 other shops were damaged in the riots.
"The cost of the repairs will amount to more than 10 million euros, and our shopkeepers need an acceleration of compensation procedures, as in the case of natural disasters," he said.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance blamed the nationwide riots in France on mass immigration and the inability to integrate large swaths of people from the "third world", while warning American citizens from following the same destructive path.
After anti-government protests devolved into chaos, leaders from across the political spectrum blamed one another for the unrest, even as it largely subsided on Sunday.
The French government has announced that over a thousand people were arrested during Saturday's supposed protests against the cost of living and educational funding, which quickly devolved into riots that saw mass looting in major cities and arson attacks on government buildings.
Local prosecutors said that at least 15 people have been arrested in connection with the riots that broke out in Limoges and the arson which destroyed the city's historic Town Hall.
The French government has accused the far-left of stoking the riots that engulfed the nation on Saturday, resulting in widespread clashes with police, looting of shops, as well as vandalism and arson of government buildings.
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